Chapter 858 Hands-on scroll

  Jia Rui hesitated.

  Of course, this is fake hesitation. He has to show fear of Lai's family, so as to displease Jia's mother and at the same time arouse Jia Zheng's and Mrs. Wang's dissatisfaction.

   "Brother Rui, is there anyone else in Rongguo Mansion that makes the Jia family afraid?" Jia She said coldly.

"Returning to my lord, this matter is too big and involves too many aspects. My nephew is worried about causing commotion in the mansion..." Jia Rui quickly bowed, "And this matter is not a day or two, or even a year or two. , it’s just that the garden has been repaired right now, and it’s difficult in the mansion, so it’s poked out,..."

Jia She sneered, "Everyone knows it well, and you also know that the house is in trouble now, and now you can't even pay out the monthly payment of the servants, and you still owe a lot of debts outside, and you can barely pay by selling a lot of shops. Life is just what to do in the second half of the year? What to do next year? But there are still people doing these things inside, and even digging out our house to enrich their own. Even Baoyu has not received such treatment."

Seeing his elder brother talking about this matter, Jia Zheng was also very unhappy. Jia Lian has now gone to Yangzhou. Although Baoyu is studying and writing at home, Jia Zheng also knows that he will definitely donate an official position to Baoyu in the future, otherwise It is difficult to find a good family even for marriage, but it is so difficult in Rongguo Mansion now, and there are still people who empty out the Jia family like this, it is really unbearable.

"Brother Rui, it's already this time, why are you still hesitating?" Jia Zheng said with a sullen face, "We must spread these jokes to the outside world, we still don't know anything, let us lose face in front of outsiders Is it enough?"

Jia Rui's face twitched for a while, his expression was in place, and then he lowered his head and said, "Nephew dare not, the shopkeeper of Zhuji Coal House is surnamed Zhu, but he only holds 20% of the shares, and the remaining 80% of the shares are housekeeper Lai. In addition, my friend also said that the Li family who paid all the bills is actually a partnership contract with the Lai family for this business. If you want to calculate it, it is 30% higher than the market price,..."

  Jia She gritted his teeth, holding the armrest of the official hat chair with both hands, he just snorted heavily, but he didn't speak.

   Jia Zheng couldn't help asking, "Jia Rui, are you sure what you said?"

"Back to the second master, how dare my nephew speak falsely about such things? Everyone knows the relationship between the owner of Zhuji Coal House and Mr. Lai's housekeeper. Every year, dividends are paid.... The garden jointly owned by the Li family and the Lai family, Mr. Didn’t the master also settle the bill for them? It’s more than thirty thousand taels of silver, my friend said, it’s at most twenty-five thousand taels of work, and I’m sure I can do better than them,…”

Jia Rui looked very calm and indifferent at this time, "As for the shops that deliver vegetables, eggs, meat, and fruits, the nephews of the present nephews will definitely not be able to ask anything, but the few shops in the past few years For example, Zhao's grain store in Xianyifang, the shopkeeper's nephew also knew him, and he asked about it when he was eating wine. He said that the housekeeper Lai was too kind, and he originally agreed to get a 10% rebate every year. Three years ago If it is about to rise to 15%, but the price is not willing to increase, how can such a business last for a long time?…”

  Jia Zheng couldn't listen anymore, and Mrs. Wang couldn't help but slapped the coffee table hard.

Think about it, Wang Xifeng has tried her best to reduce the number of servants in each house in order to save some money, and even plans to resell a group of small opera actors bought by Yuanchun Shengqin. That's right, those little actors were sold to Prince Lu's Mansion, but now there are still people sucking blood in the mansion every day and every month, which is simply unacceptable.

"It's no wonder that Jia Zhen also came to my place to complain, saying that Ningguo Mansion's life is a bit difficult, and they fight famine everywhere to borrow debts, hehe, it seems that Lai Da and Lai Sheng are playing this way very smoothly. But what has become of our Jia family? Being taken advantage of?" Jia She said angrily, "Jia Rui, who is the donator of the Lai family donating for, but Lai's eldest son?"

"Exactly, it is said that it cost 10,000 taels of silver to donate an official, and then spent 8,000 taels of silver to get through various joints in order to fill the vacancy, so that I can fill the vacancy this year and take office. The gentlemen also know that donating an official It is difficult to fill the vacancy within three to five years, but if you are willing to spend 8,000 taels of silver, it is not impossible to fill the vacancy back then. It is said that you will go to a county in Jiangxi to be the county magistrate,..."

  Jia Rui's words shocked everyone including Jia Mu.

  Of course Jia She has known about it for a long time, but it is still a bit unbearable to say it now.

   Eighteen thousand taels!

  Even a few hundred people in the Jia Mansion can use the first half of the year, right?

  How can a slave donate casually, how much property does their family have?

  Eighty thousand taels, or one hundred thousand taels, or even more? !

"Hehe, it's really dumbfounding. This Lai Da's son has studied for several years. I'm afraid even Brother Lang has read more than him, right? Lai Da can be so willing to spend 10,000 to 20,000 silver to donate to her. I really need a county magistrate, sir, how much is Lai Da's monthly salary?" Mrs. Xing sneered.

  Jia She snorted softly, "One hundred and eighty taels, the old lady has a good chance, and I will give him two hundred taels of silver at the end of the year."

"That's quite a lot. With the addition of Lai everyone, I'm afraid I can earn five or six hundred taels of silver a year, but how many years will it take to save the eight thousand taels?" Mrs. Xing said unceremoniously. Make up knife: "Thirty years."

  How could it be possible to save this official money for thirty years?

  Jia She, Jia Zheng, and even Jia Mu knew very well in his heart that this was only on the surface, and Lai Da was the chief housekeeper, so wouldn't he pick out something like that? One thousand taels a year is too much to say.

But these words can only be swallowed in the stomach. A serious master like Jia Lian is only fifty taels a month, and six hundred taels a year. The wives are only twenty taels a month. When do masters compare with slaves? Is there a lot less?

  But this donation of 18,000 taels is too unacceptable.

This means that the Lai family has at least made no less than 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver in the past few decades in the Jia family, so that they can make such a generous move to donate to their son. Seventy to eighty thousand taels of silver is enough for the current Jia family. Three years without worrying about expenses.

  Thinking of this, Jia She, Jia Zheng and the Xing Wang family subconsciously exchanged glances, and then looked at Jia Mu who was sitting at the top.

Mother Jia felt exhausted for a while, but seeing the changes in the expressions of her son and daughter-in-law, she also sighed secretly, "I'm tired, I'll leave this matter to you, don't lose face, don't lose face Proper,..., Yuanyang, help me back to my room to rest."

  Jia She, Jia Zheng, and Xing and Wang hurriedly got up to send them off respectfully.

   Waiting until Jia Mu's figure disappeared, Jia Zheng hesitated and said to Jia Amnesty: "Brother, this matter..."

Jia Amnesty also knew Jia Zheng's worry, so he snorted inwardly, but Feng Ziying had already greeted him, and he also knew that there was a big gap in Jia's family, if he didn't make up for this matter, he might The Jia Mansion is really about to lose its hold.

   "Second brother, let me take the lead in this matter, but let Lian's daughter-in-law and Jia Rui handle the details, and Lin Zhixiao, Wang Shanbao and Zhou Rui will help,..."

  Lin Zhixiao is the housekeeper, while Wang Shanbao and Zhou Rui are the servants married by the Xing family and the Wang family respectively.

Hearing that Jia Amnesty asked Wang Xifeng to handle the details, both Jia Zheng and Wang nodded. This is the safest way, so that every house is full of people, and Jia Rui, a "new and cutting-edge" force who obviously wants to overthrow the Lai family, can just be used. stand up.

  …

  Wang Xifeng couldn't help but collapsed on the bed as soon as she got back to the room. Ping'er quickly spread out the quilt for her, asking her to lie down, and then rubbed her shoulders and back for her.

   "Ping'er, what time is it?"

"Grandma, it's already past Haizheng." Ping'er looked at the chiming clock in the corner, "Grandma, don't tell me, this thing that Uncle Feng gave you is really useful. I heard that it is in Guangzhou. It would cost hundreds of taels of silver to buy it from the Xiyi people."

"Hmph, I heard that some craftsmen in Guangdong and Macau have already learned to imitate, and I don't know if they will succeed." Wang Xifeng lay on the bed lazily, not wanting to say a word. After a tiring day, it really tormented her. It's hard enough, I haven't worked so hard for a long time.

"I heard from Uncle Feng that we Han people don't need Xiyi people lacking arms and legs, let alone minds. As long as we are willing to learn and drill, we can imitate them in a short time. But if we want to reach the standard in precision, You have to take it slow."

  A blush flashed across Ping'er's face, obviously remembering that Feng Ziying pinched her cheek when she said this, what time was it, they were all so unstable, which made Ping'er complain endlessly while being moved.

"Okay, that's not something we worry about. Is Lin Zhixiao's arrangement properly? Didn't Lai Da keep making noises to see the ancestor? Tell him to shut up, and if he continues to make noise, we will send him to see the official!" Wang Xifeng gritted his teeth and said: "Who would have thought that he could hide more than 20,000 taels of silver in the house, what about Lai Sheng?"

"Uncle Zhen has already locked up Lai Sheng, and it is said that Uncle Xiao Rong whipped Lai Sheng severely with a whip, and two of the whips were broken..." Ping'er was also a little bit embarrassed. In the meantime, the wall fell down and everyone pushed down, and there were more than 20 people in the mansion who came to report and expose Lai's family overnight.

"That's what Lai Er deserves! You Shi came to me and said that Lai Shengguang can eat two thousand taels of silver every year from the rent collection of Zhuangzi's shop. He has suffered for fifteen years. It should be thirty thousand taels of silver." It's gone!" Wang Xifeng said angrily: "The father and son of the Dongfu will never let go until they squeeze Lai Sheng out. They are more embarrassed than ours now, and Youshi has lost all the honors that Youshi brought her as a dowry. I resisted it, and now I have this opportunity, why don't you take it back?"

  (end of this chapter)